sa[RN]ah

I have the same problem.. nowhere real close to me to get uniforms. I've been buying the bulk of my stuff off uscav.com. ive been extremely happy with everything thus far, and always get everything in a pretty timely manor. i've also picked up some misc. things here and there off rangerjoes.com and acuarmy.com. If you're looking to purchase before the end of tomorrow.. here is a code i got in my email for 10% off at uscav.com pn12m10 Just make sure you don't do what i did and buy some of the stuff you'll be issued with your ta-50 lol..

My unit my just be extremely rebellious and like to break all the rules lol I haven't been to bolc yet either, heck i don't even have a seat! But when i said i really wanted to go to AT [which we leave saturday morning for], they didn't say no!

lwood336 first off, congrats on graduating! december will be here before you know it :] I comissioned into the reserves this past january, so hopefully i can provide some sort of useful input. And yes, the application process is horrible! and don't expect things to change once youre in either.. the amount of paperwork, ontop of paperwork, they make you do is UNREAL! lol I had been at my current job only about a month when i had to ask my managers about writing me recommendations and doing evaluations. thankfully i received a lot of support from everyone. My advice on this... be upfront as soon as possible, be honest about the possibility for absences in the future that way they don't feel as though you are springing this on them last minute. Regardless, hopefully they are supportive of what you're doing to ultimately advance yourself and your service to your country. besides, whether they like it or not they are required by law to accomodate you military obligations lol. As far as how the process works because of you not having your bsn yet.. i have no idea. My thought would be that your packet can be completed, with the exception of your degree and final transcripts, and then those things can be added once you obtain them. I'm also not sure how it works with experience, currently the reserves requires 6 months... not sure if those 6 months HAVE to be with your bsn or not. And i could be all wrong here, but i do believe the reserves board may meet more than just once in november like active duty board does. A new Cpt in my unit boarded her packet in january.. so you may still be able to apply once you actually graduate with your bsn

I'm really glad you posted this! I could definitely use all the information I can get as well :] I found out in December I was selected, did my commissioning last month and FINALLY received my orders last week so I will start drilling with my unit the weekend after next.. I'm excited/nervous for that all at the same time. Even more excited/nervous to find out when I can expect to go to OBLC Whats your experience been so far with the reserves and drilling Scottlin? if you don't mind me asking. I have no idea what to expect going in for my first time.

I actually just commissioned 2 weeks ago.. submitted my packet in november. I have my BSN and at the time i had 7 months experience. Because i didn't have much experience, and no additional certs or anything.. i think the biggest thing that helped me out was have some really strong evaluations and LORs. and i made sure to get an LOR from an army nurse just to look good lol. If you have any questions about the process, let me know! Ive done it twice now :]

I definitely wouldn't hesitate taking advice from either of you two.. you guys always have a ton of really great info and insight into things. And lunah, you're a whole lot less clueless than i am! Im feeling a little lost in limbo.. i have no idea what to expect for OBLC or my weekend drills. I suppose this is why its called an adventure! lol

Lunah.. thanks soo much! I'm super excited, even more now that i got a call my from recruiter today to let me know everything is all set and i've gotten final approval and all that. So my commissioning is set for next thursday!! Still feels a little surreal, im sure it will all set in and feel real next week..

Spencerma2- the Army recently changed requirements for active duty nursing.. they require 2 years of experience now so thats why i was unable to get in as a new grad. Reserves though still has the same requirment of 6 months.. mmcgorrian- congrats to you as well! I remember reading in another thread that you were in the same boat.. glad to hear this route worked out for you too. I'm hoping to swear in soon.. still no word from my recruiter. Since i found out so close to christmas i knew it would take a little longer for everything to be finalized and what not.. so with all the holidays being over i'm hoping to know something soon. Who knows, maybe I'll be seeing you at OBLC :]

After some sulking and feeling bad for myself over all the changes in requirements, and finding out i was ineligible to apply for active duty army.. i decided to go ahead and try my luck at getting a foot in the door through the reserves. I can't say i was really expecting too much, at the time of the board i only had 7 months experience and no certs outside of good ol' BLS. But i work in neuro/trauma and had a couple really good evals and letters, and a letter from a retired army nurse thrown in there. So i submitted everything and forgot about the whole thing because i didn't want to be as disappointed as i was last year. BUT.. two weeks ago I got a call from my recruiter to tell me I had been selected for commission :w00t:!! I was in a state of shock and awe and had to keep asking if he was really serious lol. I'm extremely excited to say the least and i'm going to take everything i possibly can from this experience. And, when the time comes and i'm eligible, i'll hope to be joining the rest of you in active duty! No word yet on when i'll sign papers or do my commissioning. So in the meantime i'm still waiting for something to remind me that this is all real! Until then, i guess its time to put myself to the grind and lose my last couple pounds and make some improvements to my PT..

I have one from just a few days ago actually.. this past saturday, i went into a pt's room to get her cleaned up for the day. well, shes a little bit of a larger woman, has issues with weakness, and has some incontinence trouble so she was using breifs. we get her all cleaned up in bed and im having her roll side to side and back to the other side trying to get the brief all situated.. finally i gave up on the rolling idea and asked her "can you lift you bottom up so i can adjust your brief?", because i wasn't sure how much strength she had. Out from left field comes her response.. "well yeah, my husband and i still have sex you know! i may be a good christian woman but i'm no prude." awwwkward. At that point, all i could say was "ok, lift your bottom for me"

I'll be submitting my packet for reserves this year.. don't have enough experience for active duty boards yet. But as far as i know, everything is due by the beginning of October and the board meets like the second week of November or so..

You still have to go through the whole selection process for the ANCP.. MEPS (or in your case, the physical at Ft. Sam) is just one step in the whole application process.I'm not as familiar with the ANCP, but i think the jist of it is IF selected youre technically considered "enlisted" for the sole purpose of getting a paycheck.. and you'll then commission once you've graduated and passed NCLEX. Not sure if the timeline for ANCP coincides with active duty selections.. but if it does, that board is in November.

Yeah, active duty was what i've really been wanting to do too.. but im going to go ahead and follow through with applying to the reserves until i qualify for active duty. From what i understand, the process for applying to the reserves isn't any different.. you'll just have to make sure to go back through your paperwork and changed anywhere you selected active duty to reserves. i was told that the loan repayment is less, there is no course guarantee.. not sure what else. I couldn't agree more, its definitely frustrating.. but like you, im just going to keep working at it and eventually i'll get there. I've only been working since may, so i've got a couple less months in.. i'll JUST make the 6 month mark when the board meets so i've got my fingers crossed!! good luck to you too :]

i applied last year while i was a student, and had began the process of applying again for ad this year until they changed the requirements to 2 years experience. so, i will answer as best i can based on my own experience.. how long does it generally take from beginning the application process to being accepted? how does the application process work? a lot of how long it takes can really depend on how efficient you are in getting all the necessary paperwork done.. and there is a lot of it. there are several different forms that need to be filled out along with getting letters of recommendation and evaluation forms, you also need copies of things like your birth cert, ss card, license, etc. i felt i was able to get everything board ready pretty quickly last year.. i began the process in early-mid june and was board ready by november. as long as you and your recruiter are on top of this, it can get done quickly. he was talking about presenting the application before the board. he was pushing to complete the application soon because the 2012 boards might already fill their need for nurses. how does that work? the new fy begins in october, they've released their mission so they know what they're looking for but haven't begun to fill slots yet. the first board for the year will meet in the beginning of november.. chances are, as in years past, that will be the only board for the year because they have been filling all available slots in that first board. you don't actually have to present anything, your packet is a big file they put together electronically and send to the board for review. should i gather more information before i even go to meps? this i don't really have any info on. i got lucky and didn't have to process through meps, i went down to ft. knox and had my physical done right at ireland community hospital so that was pretty smooth sailing. as most people will tell you, make sure anything you're promised is in writing.. if its not in writing it doesn't count. but overall, getting the application together wasn't too bad.. it was long and time consuming, but nothing difficult. the worst part is after the application is done and out of your hands and into the hands of the people deciding your fate! lol

You can ignore my extreme cynicism... not much has been going very positively lately. But, when it comes down to it, I know I will get to where I want to be when the timing is all right. Im still going to pursue my options for this year to hopefully get a foot in the door. But in the meantime, I'm just gonna keep working to get the experience. If the reserves doesnt pan out, I guess I better hope they don't require 2 years experience again next year because I still won't have it lol thanks for all the support nonetheless!

I haven't given up, thus far, so I will see what my options are with the reserves and go from there. But it definitely sucks to feel like the only thing being a new nurse has gotten me in this whole process is being automatically discounted and discredited.. TWICE..

Just got word from my recruiter... they received the mission for next year. 2 years experience minimum, nonwaiverable. So I guess it looks like im out for active duty this year . Im extremely bummed.. but as long as reserves is still only requiring 6 months then im going to try to get get my foot in the door that way and try switching to active duty when I qualify. all these hiccups are making things difficult here... :/

Appologies in advance.. I happen to be very long winded :) I think a lot of the difficulty in finding a job really depends on where you live.. some places have been hit harder than others and some places would probably hire anything that walked through the door and had 2 opposable thumbs! I graduated in December and truly did have a hard time finding a job.. took me 4.5 months to get a job that was an hour from home, 5 days a week, in an area I didn't have much interest for. But overall, I really believe a lot of it has to do with the local economy and how difficult it is to find a job will fluctuate from city to city. As for whether or not its wise to even pursue nursing.. I think that all depends on the person and whats in their heart. For me, nursing is the only thing I want to be doing.. maybe I'm a jaded new grad, but nursing really is what I'm passionate about and at the end of the day I still love what I do. If your only motivation is the money, then my guess is its probably not wise for you to pursue nursing for more than one reason. If nursing is what you want to do, don't settle for something you're not passionate about.. but if its what you really want to do you will make it happen no matter what. And I really just have to comment on what many others have already defended because I took it very personally and am kind of offended by the remark.. nursing is more than a respectable job. Is it thankless 99% of the time, absolutely. Do you take the brunt of the blame and anger from the patient, their families, and the docs.. of course. but at the end of the day you're making a huge difference for a lot of people whether its appreciated or not, and thats beyond respectable.

I graduated back in december, i got rid of everything that was worth something even before graduation! lol I did hold on to my med-surg book, figure it might make a good reference at some point. But i agree with roser13, sell them while you can because its astonishing how quickly these books devalue. My psych book from even just 2 years ago is worth less than $5 now..

Thanks for the good luck Lunah! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for selection this year too! Applying last year made me realize the true definition of nerve-wracking lol. Im sure it will be as tight this year as it was last, and since 6 months experience probably wont stand up against most of the more experienced nurses, so i'm just trying to find ways to make myself as marketable as possible before november 1st :]

You need to do whats going to be best for you and your family. Even though you had a hard time finding a job intially, you've secured a new position.. you're not going out on a limb and quitting without having a back-up plan. I was in the same boat just last week, it took me nearly 4.5 months to find a job so i took the first thing that came my way.. which happened to be an hour from home and in an area i didn't really care for. 3 days before the end of my orientation I was offered a new position closer to home in an area i was excited about, so i took it. I put in my official letter of resignation, giving 2 weeks notice, and thanked them for the great opportunity. they were understanding and accepting of my situation when i explained it to them If you don't want to burn any bridges, you need to go about things as professionally as possible. Type up an official letter of resignation, giving 2 weeks notice.. regardless of your orientation status giving an employer 2 weeks notice is a professional courtesy. But because you are on orientation still, they probably won't hold you to the 2 weeks and will release you immediately (which is what happened in my case). Good luck with everything. Don't let the situation discourage you, at the end of the day you need to do whats best for you, and no one can fault you for that. Just take full advantage of this new job opportunity! (sorry for the lengthy response!)

thanks jeckrn! im keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the last time i have to go through this whole charade lol

I'm always lurking around on here.. i haven't seen anyone, as of yet, really post anything about the fast [very fast] approaching boards for the next fiscal year. im just curious who else out there is planning on submitting a packet? how many years experience? specialty/area of interest? i myself am a pretty new nurse, i'll have a solid 6 months experience by the time the board meets. Ive got 3 months in general surgery/oncology and am in the poccess of switching over to a neuro trauma stepdown. i know how competitive things are anymore, and that the odds are more or less.. not in my favor. I applied last year while i was still a student, but too close to graduation for the ANCP, So i know the market for new[er] graduates isn't very good. im not really sure at this point if its my sheer determination or stubbornness thats driving me even hard this year.. Im hoping that not giving up and trying again at least says something? Here's to better luck this year!

Speaking of FY2012 selection board.. has anyone heard anything, or know if they're anticipating it being as competitive as this year's? I tried getting intouch with my recruiter to get the scoop.. but it seems he's no longer recruiting. I had applied last year, but my chances were pretty slim since I hadn't even graduated and had zero experience.. so Im keeping my fingers crossed for some better odds this year!

I agree with Lissa,RN.. its really going to depend on where you go. not only that, but what type of loans you get. I graduated with about $42,000 worth of debt for my BSN from a public university (one of the cheaper ones in the state).. half of that was subsidized loans through the department of ed. and the other half was furnished through private loans which game with an ungodly interest rate. All in all, now that all my loans have gone into repayment, my monthly payments run me in the ball park of $550-600 a month..for now.